Bizarrely, there has been no review of the latest offering from Audient. Despite this, I
went out and bought one anyway!

Preamble

Recently, I've been looking for
something that will give me a couple of channels of good quality mic pre. I have 8
channels in my Saffire Pro and, whilst I am happy with them, I am aware that you can buy
better for more money. A surprise summer bonus has left my cash burning a hole in my
wallet, so I started looking in earnest. I wanted two channels, nice sound, good features,
known manufacturer and preferably s/pdif so that I can make full use of my audio
interface. SSL was looked at but their Alpha was either a single channel or a quad so that
was out. For a while I was going to get a DAV BG1 and use a couple of 'spare' channels on
my converter. The DBX 386 was a goer as well, but for some reason didn't ring my bell -
probably not enough people round here singing it's praises (although I've just read that
Hugh seems to like it). Then I noticed the Audient Mico. I am familiar with their desks
and everyone is full of praise for their ASP008 unit. The Mico looked very nice and so,
after some hard searching (that includes a gold medal for Gary at SVC for finding the last
one in the country at the back of the office) I joined the Audient owners club!

Overview

The Mico itself is a two channel mic pre with inbuilt AD
conversion capable of working of sample rates up to 192k when clocked externally or 96k
from it's own clock. Each channel is fed from a combi connector allowing either XLR or
jack connection. Both channels have a switchable hi pass filter that can be off, at 40khz,
at 80khz or 120khz based on combinations of the two push buttons. (As a side note, all of
the buttons light up when pushed in so it looks very groovy!) Each channel also has a 10db
pad and can deliver 48v phantom power down the xlr connection. The unit can function as a
standalone mic pre courtesy of the two audio outputs as well. All of the i/o (bar the DI
input for channel 1) is on the back and the Mico's digital interfacing can be on either
rca or lightpipe with a bnc connector for wordclock. Additionally, the Mico can terminate
the clocking.

Both channels use the same mic pre circuitry from Audient's
desks to give up to 66db of gain. This is a respectable figure and is handy for ribbon
mics. One problem that I have found is that the trim pot, whilst being very firm and
nicely finished, seems to bring the gain up quite smoothly until the very end when there
is a sudden leap in gain. It caught me out the first time that I tried setting levels, and
could well be an issue on my unit so I'd be interested to know if anyone else has that
problem. The levels are shown on a 4 segment led indicator which lights up values for -30,
-12, -6 and overload.

Each channel has slightly different features in addition
to the standard mic pre. Channel 1 has both a DI input, which is suitable for guitars and
basses, and another knob to control how much 'HMX' is applied to the sound. This is
Audient's 'Harmonic Sculpting' system which is used to bring in a more 'valve'-like sound.
Channel 2 has a control for changing the phase of the incoming signal. This isn't just a
180' switch, but is a switch and a knob which means that the incoming phase can be
anywhere from 0' to 180' and back again to 360' using the phase reverse. This is designed
to give very precise phase alignment between the two incoming signals. So if you have two
mics on an instrument, you can ensure that the sound is phase aligned pretty much
perfectly before you start recording.

All of the above is housed in a smart
1/2u case with an external power suppy which is fed via a standard 'figure 8' power lead.
There is no on/off control on the unit itself, neither is there any independent power
indicator light. On my unit, I have mine left to clock from my audio interface, so the
'external clock' led performs this function.

In Use

Once my
Mico was home and installed, it was time to set up some tests to see what it could do. The
first test was very basic : I plugged an electric guitar - a Gordon smith Graf - into the
DI input on the front and set the levels. The Graf is a bright, yet full, guitar and that
came back perfectly over my monitors. A quick recording test showed that the sound of the
guitar was preserved exceedingly well which was good for re-amping in my Powercore.

Whilst the guitar was plugged in, I also tried the HMX control. My logic was that
it's effect would be more obvious on guitar. The result was a very pleasing, fairly soft
distortion and was mild enough that it gave some character to the sound without overly
changing it. A quick vocal test later confirmed this. The fact that it is fully variable
and not on/off is a bonus as it will allow me to try dialling in small amounts and backing
off if I do not like the resulting sound.

Next up were some mic tests. I have a
matched pair of SE3s so they were connected to both the Mico and the Saffire Pro. The
first thing that I noticed was that the hi-pass filters' flexibility was a handy thing to
have. I don't suffer from much outside noise at home, but suddenly my single filter
frequency on the Saffire seemed to be a compromise.

Once the levels were
matched and the mics in a parallel array on a stereo bar, a quick vocal test was tried.
Both mic pres delivered excellent results but there was a small difference in the Mico.
The low end was slightly less boomy and the mid-hi end clearer which gave a slightly more
open sound. I was surprised at how small the difference was though and this is more of a
testament to the Saffire than a failure of the Mico.

The last test was to try
acoustic guitar as this is very good at showing differences between pres. My acoustic had
just been restrung so was fairly 'zingy' sounding which is ideal for testing. Here the
difference was more marked - the Mico giving a sharper sound to the acoustic with a
clearer top end and, again, a more controlled bass response. The clarity in the low end
made it easier to eq to tidy up which in turn gave a more natural sound. Again, the
difference was not amazingly big between the two units, but enough for me to make the Mico
my 'go to' unit for acoustics.

Summing up

I have to say
that I am very pleased that I bought a Mico. Not only does it have some good features,
but, most imporantly, it sounds really good. As most retailers are knocking these out for
around £400, it seems incredibly good value for money. Other than the slightly strange
gain control (which could well be a fault in my particular box), I can't really fault it
as a unit. Even the power supply is nicer than the average wall wart. Plus this is really
solidly built and yet it still feels smooth in use. All in all, thoroughly recommended!

Quote Dave B:Bizarrely, there
has been no review of the latest offering from Audient. Despite this, I went out and
bought one anyway!

It's here
and in the queue to be done in the next week or so...

Quote:The DBX 386 was a goer as well, but for some
reason didn't ring my bell - probably not enough people round here singing it's praises
(although I've just read that Hugh seems to like it).

I do -- I think it's fab. Don't have one myself, but persauded a
friend of mine to get one and he loves it to bits too.

Quote:Both channels use the same mic pre circuitry from
Audient's desks to give up to 66db of gain.

The clever Mr Dearden has found some small but worthy
improvements to the Audient mic pre design, so these are fractionally better than the desk

Quote:I'd be interested
to know if anyone else has that problem.

Ohhh.. I'll have a play and let you know if the review unit is
the same...

Quote:This is designed to give very precise phase alignment between the two incoming signals.
So if you have two mics on an instrument, you can ensure that the sound is phase aligned
pretty much perfectly before you start recording.

Hmmm.... correcting for different mic spacing is a time delay
issue. Phase shifts normally affect different frequencies by different amounts. I'll look
into this aspect too.

Quote Dave B:One problem that I
have found is that the trim pot, whilst being very firm and nicely finished, seems to
bring the gain up quite smoothly until the very end when there is a sudden leap in gain.
It caught me out the first time that I tried setting levels, and could well be an issue on
my unit so I'd be interested to know if anyone else has that problem.

The review model was the same -- a large
'dead zone' on the cotnrol from abut 11 oclock through to about 3 o'clock where the
gain barely chanegs, and then a mad rush inthe last 5 degrees of travel where the gain
suddenly jumps 15dB.

I've just spoken with David Dearden, the designer, who is -- at this very moment -- sat at
the test bench pulling production units apart and check the pots. It looks like the pots
installed in manufacture aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing... and it's
definitely not right. I'll let you know more when I know!

I think you misunderstood what I meant by a 'dead zone'. I don't mean that it all goes
quiet and stops working. Perhaps ai should have used the car throttle analogy and said
'flat spot'. What happens is that as you advance the gain control from minimum, the gain
rises normally, and then from about 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock the gain increases very
little. After this range it starts to rise more progressively again, before going
completely mad right at the end.

More by luck than judgement, the 'flat spot'
area is actually across the gain region you are likely to use most of the time, so it
makes fine gain adjustments quite easy... but it's not right.

I have no idea
yet whether Audient will be offering a retrofit-fix for this. It's quite an expensive
modification to have to make, and it may harm the circuit board in taking the old pot out.
Watch this space.

I'm new to the forum, but I signed up just so I could comment on
this problem.

I think I'm one of the first Mico owners, I bought mine last year
some time. I have to concur with all comments on this post regarding the pot issue. My
mico does the same thing suddenly jumping up significantly in gain right at the end. I
had emailed Audient and they had said this was a "design compromise" but now that I'm
reading what you guys are saying, especially the fact that someone on this forum talked
with Dave Dearden himself, leads me to believe that this is a design flaw and should be
rectified. I hope this is the case because I was thinking of selling my Mico and getting
a different 2 channel front end. Aside from this issue, I love the way the Mico sounds,
the first guy who posted was right about the tonality. I use my Mico alternatively with
my Blue Robbie tube pre, when I want total clean, and they complement each other nicely.
Another interesting note about the mico is that it will not play nice with the FMR audio
RNC using a different pre. I.e., If I want to use my Robbie>Rnc> to mico to take
advantage of the A to D, I have to go in through the Direct input on the front, not the
line level input. Oddly enough, the gain lights on the front of the mico sync perfectly
with with pro tools when it comes to clipping or what not when going in through the direct
input like this. If you want to use the RNC or any other compressor with the Mico pre,
simply run out of pre one into the RNC and then into pre 2 and it works beautifully.
This unit is clean and open and great sounding and packed with features for a great price.
I sincerely hope the folks at Audient will address this issue with the pots. When
recording acoustic guitars, I have to gain it up all the way (to right before the gain
jumps up like crazy) and even if playing loudly my levels are below half on my meters in
pro tools. Anyway, I hope this helps, and I hope they plan to fix this prob.

Audient are currently awaiting a new batch of pots from their supplier to test and see if
they cure the problem. We should know in a couple of weeks. If they do, then all future
production units will be fitted with the revised pots and the problem will go away.

However, I don't know whether Audient will be able or willing to offer a fix for
existing units. It would be nice if they could, but it may not be an easy or
cost-effective thing for them to do. It's not a big company... I'll keep you posted as and
when I know more.

I know that some people may be upset on principle - and to a certain degree I sympathise -
but after thinking it over and having a chat with various people who are used to this kind
of thing, I think that I'd be ok living with this. I don't consider it a show-stopper
really. The question is whether the ramp up in gain is in an area that will be used a lot.
I don't own any mics that require a huge amount of gain (although I would like to try some
ribbons at some point) and I tend to close mic when working. Plus the ramp up is a little
more extreme than I'd expect, but not totally unworkable. I think that I can consider this
a 'quirk' rather than a complete failure.

Saying that, if it is possible to fix
then I'd probably go down the path. But I won't lose any sleep if it isn't. I love the
sound and the features on this (and the price) which is what is important to me.

Quote SonGokou: When recording
acoustic guitars, I have to gain it up all the way (to right before the gain jumps up like
crazy) and even if playing loudly my levels are below half on my meters in pro tools.

Sean, one thing I'd ask is what
the actual levels are? I'm not au fait with Pro Tools so I'm not sure how the meters are
calibrated, but any acoustic instrument needs a good amount of headroom (lots of long
posts in the main forum about digital recording / headroom) so I expect the signal not to
be peaking too high. I run my Mico via s/pdif straight into the DAW and don't compress on
the way in these days (clean recording,etc) so I tend to leave a goodly amount of headroom
in recordings anyway.

I'm have to say that I wholeheartedly disagree with you about this
matter. While I see your points and that may be cool for you, I'm not accustomed to
spending 1100 dollars on something to have it work "mostly right". Furthermore, even if
the unit sounds great, we don't know that the tone might be "better" with the pots fixed.
I also stand on principle that if you release a product that has a design flaw you should
not expect the consumer to just "deal with it". Audient is a pro company that releases
pro gear, and if this pre amp cost say 250 bucks I'd live with it, maybe, but not at
1100... But if you're cool with it, more power to you. I personally expect products I
buy to do what they're supposed to from the get go, then maybe break later...

Quote SonGokou:While I see your
points and that may be cool for you, I'm not accustomed to spending 1100 dollars on
something to have it work "mostly right".

That's an understandable position... but it begs the question as
to why no one -- not a single owner/user -- has contacted Audient to complain about this
gain control action. The first they knew of the issue was when I raised it. Which either
means I'm a very fussy and demanding reviewer, or it's not really a problem for anyone.

Quote:Furthermore, even
if the unit sounds great, we don't know that the tone might be "better" with the pots
fixed.

It won't affect 'the
tone' in any way. This is a very simple issue concerning the gain control law on the
potentiometers.

Quote:I also stand on principle that if you release a product that has a design flaw you
should not expect the consumer to just "deal with it".

Being pedantic, it's not a design flaw, but a supply of
components which appear not to meet the specs. And you are hunping the gun a little here.
We don't yet know what the outcome of the investigation will suggest and what approach
Audient will take. But I'm sure it will want to keep its customers happy in whatever way
it can...

Quote SonGokou:While I see
your points and that may be cool for you, I'm not accustomed to spending 1100 dollars on
something to have it work "mostly right".

That's an understandable position... but it begs the question as
to why no one -- not a single owner/user -- has contacted Audient to complain about this
gain control action. The first they knew of the issue was when I raised it. Which either
means I'm a very fussy and demanding reviewer, or it's not really a problem for anyone.

I was looking for an
email address to ask about it when I found this conversation. Afterwards I didn't feel
that I needed to contact them because you already had.

I did not mean to imply that Audient would expect me to "deal with it" per se. I was
simply saying that in general I don't like it when companies do that. I have had
excellent contact and customer service in general with Audient, and I have confidence
they'll offer a good solution. So no hungping or jumping the gun here... just saying what
my general attitude is...

On a side yet related note, an audio engineer friend
of mine believes the problem is one of it being an "audio taper pot" vs. a "linear taper".
So I agree it is not a design flaw, but perhaps a production flaw at the factory.
Regardless, it is something that may be able to be fixed locally or easily by audient, but
I really wouldn't know ultimately because I'm not an electrical engineer...

I
await a response from Audient...

I will say that overall I love Audients
approach to sound and I think more people should buy their gear.

Quote SonGokou:On a side yet
related note, an audio engineer friend of mine believes the problem is one of it being an
"audio taper pot" vs. a "linear taper". So I agree it is not a design flaw, but perhaps a
production flaw at the factory.

I only it were that simple! The pot in question is actually a reverse log pot, and
was supplied by a different company to the one that makes the reverse log pots used in
other Audient products using the same basic mic preamp design. The problem is that the
trimming of the reverse log resistance track is out of spec, particularly near one end. So
not a design flaw, or a production flaw, but a source manufacturing one.

The
annoying and frustrating thing is that the problem escaped the notice of the Audient QC
department because the pot measures correctly at each extreme end as well as in the middle
-- which is all that the QC program was configured to check (and not unreasonably so, in
fact, as this would have revealed such errors as a linear taper pot in place of an audio
taper pot, or pots of the wrong nominal value etc, which would be the expected errors).

The Audient Mico sounds interesting, once they fix the pot thing. Where would it be in the
PC compatible pre/converter quality pecking order with the Apogees (Mini Me), Focusrites
and RMEs of this world?

Mus, I'd say above the Saffire and RME but then I'd stop as I don't have an Apogee to
hand. You'd need an s/pdif soundcard of some kind to get it into the PC but as that would
clock to the Mico - and I'm assuming that the clock on the Mico would be superior to a
cheapee - you'd get a decent signal in that way.

Will the review of the Audient Mico be in the next issue of SOS? I'm keen to find out more about this pre!I currently use an M-Audio Tampa, DMP3
and Yamaha MLA-7 preamps.I tend to use VSTi's for 90% of my work and only need a mic
preamp for vocals (generally 1 lead and 3 backing vox). The Tampa is my favorite out
of what I own for vocals. I occasionally record acoustic guitar which the DMP3 does well
at.

If I were to upgrade I would have to sell all my current pres to buy one
higher quality pre. Would the Audient Mico be a worthy upgrade?

Quote dickiefunk:Will the review
of the Audient Mico be in the next issue of SOS?

No. We're still waiting for a replacement review unit with the
corrected gain pot to check before the review goes to press. Hopefully I'll be able to
chat with the Audient guys at the AES show and find out what progress is being made.

Quote Dave B:...Channel 2 has a
control for changing the phase of the incoming signal. This isn't just a 180' switch, but
is a switch and a knob which means that the incoming phase can be anywhere from 0' to 180'
and back again to 360' using the phase reverse. This is designed to give very precise
phase alignment between the two incoming signals. So if you have two mics on an
instrument, you can ensure that the sound is phase aligned pretty much perfectly before
you start recording.

Is
this a single all-pass filter?
All-passes don't shift the phase accross the spectum
to the same degree. A phase alignment tool that I have is a single all-pass, which shifts
the phase according to it's centre frequency, which can aleviate certain problems, but
doesn't uniformly shift every frequency... It's just that the claim here implies something
different...like an array of filters?

Well I'm pleased to report that Audient, along with help from Chris
Walsh at CW sales and marketing, managed to get me one of the new Audient Mico's with the
pot issue resolved. Though it took a long time, both Audient, and Chris were very
responsive to my needs and replaced my unit at no charge. The basic spec on the new unit
is as follows:

18-66 db with a -20db pad..

All other features remain
the same.

I'm not going to post a full review, but here is a mini one with
observations:

The Audient Mico is one of the best two channel/A to D units on
the market at an excellent price point. Audient's philosophy of having the cleanest sound
possible so that you can add color later is right on the mark. I use the Mico with a
variety of microphones, but most often a Blue Kiwi. The mico is crystal clear and
transparent without sounding thin. It has a "light" clean sound to it at least with this
mic. When I compare it to my Blue Robbie, the Robbie is beefier on the low end and
creamier with less sheen, and that might be what you want sometimes. But this is where
the HMX filter comes in. In my previous unit I couldn't hear the HMX doing that much
perhaps because of the pot issue. On my replacement unit, I can hear what it's doing a
lot more, and it does add some subtle (to not so subtle depending on where you dial it)
harmonic distortion to the sound, adding mild thickness to the low end and some grit or
"character" to the high end on higher settings. What's interesting about he HMX filter
and important to note, is that it is like a tube circuit in that say for example, you have
a very low gain source, you can get away with cranking the HMX filter more, (in fact you
might need to) versus a high gain source where you might want to pull back. In other
words, it's responsive to how hard you hit it gain wise, and that's pretty cool. I find
with basic voice over, I use it at 40 to 50 percent, and with loud singing even less. I
haven't had a need to use it at 100 percent, but at that level it does produce a cool
effect. The most i've ever used it at is 90 percent, and that was for some really soft
singing.

The other thing that was fixed with the pot issues is that with my
original unit, I could not get the mico to "play nice" with my outboard Really Nice
Compressor from FMR audio. For some reason, when I ran my Blue Robbie in to the
compressor and then into the line input on the back of the mico it seemed to hit some
invisible "wall" inside the mico. The only way to get it to work effectively was to go
into the direct input on the front.

With the replacement unit I have no
problems with outboard gear at all, and the unit works great. Even the rubber/silicone
feet on the bottom have been improved.

I have to say I love the Audient Mico.
For daw users or portable users who need a pro two channel front end, I don't think you
can do better than this, especially at this price point. (I paid 1100US dollars for
mine)

Without going over all the features, here are some of the few that stand
out for me:

XLR line outputs for each channel allow for no latency monitoring.
This is a great feature especially if you use a pro tools le system. Also, you can record
a compressed and uncompressed source by sending the signal out of channel one into your
compressor and then into channel two. Both will feed into the built in A to D. This is
great if you want a raw track and a safety track you needed to limit, or simply wanted to
compress going in.

Built in a to d with spdif: Allows me to bypass my complete
total piece of [ ****** ] mbox 1 (digi please just make a friggin' dongle already?) for
excellent a to d conversion.

HMX filter (see section above)

Variable Phase. Now I haven't had to NEED this yet, but I have used it with acoustic
guitar and it works great. Why no one else has made this standard on other two channel
pre's I don't understand.

I love the colored lights on the front buttons when
activated.

Conclusion

I work as a voice over artist in many
Manhattan studios. I've recorded on API gear SSL, Avalon, Grace, Neve, FMR (the really
nice pre is really nice) and Focusrite. What i've discovered is that once you get into
the realm of "Pro" gear and sound, the rest of the solution is your color choice. I.e.,
do I want the API sound or the SSL or what not. Audient's Mico is absolutely in the realm
of "Pro" and competes solidly with any other product I've used. I think it has an
advantage with it's "colorless sound that you can add to later" philosophy. Audient is a
unique company and I can't wait to get my hands on some of their Black series gear. Black
Series console anyone? Audient thinks outside the box in many ways, and for me that's a
good thing. I hope they do well in business and continue to offer unique and useful high
quality products that don't cost a gazillion dollars like many others. If you buy an
Audient Mico, you'll be glad you did. I am.

Just thought I'd post a really cool discovery I made using the Mico in
conjunction with my Blue Robbie.

The mico has a great clean "light" open
sound if you will. It's really great on acoustic guitars and percussion, or voice over
you want no color on. But it does lack some "thicker" low end body (which isn't
necessarily bad depending on what you want), this as I said, is where the HMX filter comes
in. It does add some low end thickness, but can get a little harsh at higher settings,
bordering on more of an effect which also can be cool. Now as you all may know, the Blue
Robbie is a Class A tube mic pre, and it's really a combination of old and new technology,
so while it does have some tube sound, it's not super intense or uber thick, but it is
there. So I was trying to figure a way to add more color to the sound, and while I really
dig plugins like Colortone Pro (trust me, that thing is cheap but is very useful and
really does add color) I was thinking of adding a transformer based pre or e.q. to my
setup, but I can't really afford anything at the moment. So I thought, since sometimes I
run my Robbie into my mico when I want tube sound, what if I engaged the HMX filter as
well? The results were astounding. The harmonic distortion the HMX filter adds alone is
not as smooth as true tube, but it is good. However when running a mic pre with soft
tube sound into the hmx filter, the smoothness and thickness of the the Blue robbie, was
made even richer and smoother and thicker by the HMX filter. Any harshness the HMX filter
had at all (not much but still) was gone, and this glorious vintage thick tube sound came
through on my vocal. I can only imagine similar results with the Audient Black Pre as
that is transformer based and to me transformer based pres often sound thicker than non,
with tube being it's own tone but similar quality as well. It sounded as if I had
upgraded my Kiwi mic to it's cousin- the tube based Cactus. So Mico users out there, if
you want to add some even richer tones to your setup, try running a tube pre into the mico
turn the hmx up to about 30 percent (I actually got away with higher levels using the
Robbie pre as everything was smoother, I could go as high as 60 or 70 percent before
harmonic distortion became too much, but it never really got harsh) and see what you get.
I was very surprised and thrilled by the results. I took that vocal and used a waves V
series e.q. for some neve like quality and I couldn't be happier. Now to get around to
treating my room a bit more...

Hi folks, does anyone know if the amended Mico's are now the general retail stock? ie, if
I were to buy one, am I likely to get one with an iffy gain control? I've emailed a couple
of online retailers about their Mico stock and have received (after about 4 weeks) no
replies yet, so when it comes time to purchase, those particular stores have lost my
custom...

Hugh's review one was a revised production model and he'll have received that for review a
few months ago. Yes, they should be the revised model, but it's all going to depend on
how long the stock has been in the shop.

I recently spoke to this company about this preamp and they don't keep any in stock. They
order them in from Audient and the salesperson said that it will be the revised edition.
They are also selling it at the cheapest price I've seen £356

I got one from Millenium at £379 because they had them in stock, whereas the link above
needed to order them in taking 10 days or so. Millenium said they were new stock because
they were unavailable for ages while sorting out the gain - having said that, I haven't
actually tested that bit.